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SOT Announces the 2018–2019 Election Results

By Ruth Roberts posted 02-22-2018 10:51

  

Communique 2018 Issue 1 Masthead

Thank you to the members who participated in this year’s election. The members below were elected and will begin their service May 1, 2018.

Vice President-Elect: George P. Daston, PhD
George Daston headshotDr. Daston joined SOT in 1985, the same year that he began his still-active career as a toxicologist at Procter & Gamble. From 2015 to 2017, he served as SOT treasurer and also as an SOT councilor from 2001 to 2003, as well as in a multitude of leadership positions on various SOT committees, Specialty Sections, and Regional Chapters. As a Victor Mills Society research fellow at Procter & Gamble, Dr. Daston has an active research program developing methods to predict toxicity using cheminformatics and biotechnology (especially gene expression analysis), and his lab also conducts research in mechanistic toxicology.

Dr. Daston views SOT as a success story: “We have vibrant annual meetings, extensive educational and career development programs, and the science generated by our members has a real impact on public health.” However, he also recognizes the challenges faced by the Society, including “decreased growth of membership and Annual Meeting attendance and increased competition from other journals for the best papers. For the field, we continue to face challenges in research funding and in justifying the relevance of our research.” He shares that his goal “is to confront these challenges by building on SOT’s successes,” such as continuing SOT’s engagement with FASEB and AAAS and ensuring that SOT’s training programs and opportunities for future toxicologists remain strong. He also wants to focus on outreach to clinical and epidemiology societies by sharing content from the Annual Meeting and hosting joint Contemporary Concepts in Toxicology (CCT) meetings.

Treasurer-Elect: Anthony M. Ndifor, PhD
Anthony M. Ndifor headshotDr. Ndifor serves as a director in the Preclinical Development and Safety Department at Janssen Research & Development LLC, part of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies. He became an SOT member in 1999 and previously served on the SOT Nominating Committee from 2013 to 2015, among other committee appointments and leadership roles within the Society’s groups. Dr. Ndifor has more than 18 years of experience providing preclinical safety assessment expertise and leadership within drug development teams. He has broad expertise in both biologics and small molecule development across various therapeutic areas including oncology, neuroscience, immunology, metabolic diseases, and infectious diseases.

Dr. Ndifor is proud of his experience as an SOT ToxScholar, spreading toxicology awareness to students, and his role on the SOT Global Strategy Task Force that created the Global Senior Scholar Exchange Program. “As treasurer and part of Council, my goal will be to ensure SOT remains on AAA fiscal footing, ensure financial responsibility and integrity while investing in SOT’s membership, and SOT’s future globally,” he shares. Dr. Ndifor also believes that the Society, its leadership, and members “must challenge ourselves to be bolder, to feel slight discomfort, to study the competition so we can remain relevant not only to the established members, currently leading the affairs of the Society or heading college departments, but also to the next generation in college, graduate school, and indeed in K–12.”

Councilors: Courtney E. W. Sulentic, PhD, and Barbara L. F. Kaplan, PhD
Courtney E. W. Sulentic headshotAn SOT member since 1995, Dr. Sulentic is an associate professor within the Boonshoft School of Medicine Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Wright State University. Her research involves working to elucidate, at the cellular and molecular level, the human health implications of altered antibody expression by xenobiotics, such as the environmental contaminant, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, and the role of specific genetic factors in influencing individual susceptibility to xenobiotics. Dr. Sulentic says that one of her main goals as SOT Councilor will be to “identify common goals/tactics between different SOT committees and to facilitate increased communication and collaborative efforts between these committees.”

Barbara L. F. Kaplan headshotDr. Kaplan became an SOT member in 1997 and is an assistant professor in the Center for Environmental Health Sciences at Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine (MSU-CVM). She teaches immunology to veterinary students and pharmacology and toxicology to undergraduate and graduate students and has been active in mentoring PhD students, undergraduate students, and veterinary students participating the Summer Research Experience at MSU-CVM. Dr. Kaplan outlines a few of the goals she has as an SOT councilor, including supporting “the continued efforts of the Society for recruitment and retention of students to toxicology,” being “a tireless advocate for science and toxicology,” and the “promotion of the importance of mentoring in science.”

Awards Committee
Robert A. Roth headshot
Robert A. Roth, PhD, DABT
Dr. Roth joined SOT in 1980 and is a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Michigan State University. He previously served on the SOT Awards Committee from 2007 to 2009 and was chair 2008–2009, in addition to other leadership roles within the Society.

 

J. Eric McDuffie headshotJ. Eric McDuffie, MBA, PhD
Dr. McDuffie heads the Mechanistic & Investigative Toxicology Team at the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen Pharmaceutical Research & Development site in La Jolla, California, and previously served on the Johnson & Johnson Research & Development Awards Committee. He has been an SOT member since 2008 and currently holds a leadership role in the Southern California Regional Chapter.

 

Yvonne Will headshotYvonne Will, PhD
An SOT member since 1996, Dr. Will is the head of science and technology for drug safety at Pfizer, Inc., and also leads the drug discovery toxicology efforts for drug safety. She has served in on various SOT committees and has held leadership positions within SOT component groups.

Membership Committee
Antonio T. Baines, PhDAntonio T. Baines headshot
Dr. Baines is an associate professor and biomedical scientist at North Carolina Central University and has been an SOT member since 2007. He is currently serving on the SOT Undergraduate Consortium Task Force and served as a councilor for the Toxicologists of African Origin Special Interest Group from 2008 to 2010.

 

Sharmilee P. Sawant headshotSharmilee P. Sawant, PhD, DABT, RAC
Dr. Sawant became an SOT member in 2001 and is an associate director of global product safety for Halyard Health Inc. She previously served on the SOT Nominating Committee from 2015 to 2017, in addition to other SOT leadership positions.

 

Terrence J. Monks headshotTerrence J. Monks, PhD
Dr. Monks joined the Society in 1986 and is an assistant vice president for integrative biosciences and a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at Wayne State University. He served on the SOT Nominating Committee from 2002 to 2003, in addition to service on other SOT committees and holding leadership roles in SOT component groups.

Nominating Committee
Gary O. Rankin headshot
From Membership-At-Large: Gary O. Rankin, PhD
An SOT member since 1985, Dr. Rankin is a professor chair and vice dean for basic sciences at Marshall University. He has held numerous SOT committee leadership positions, as well as leadership positions within SOT component groups.

 

Laura M. Plunkett headshotFrom Regional Chapters: Laura M. Plunkett, PhD, DABT
Dr. Plunkett is a pharmacologist, toxicologist, regulatory specialist, and principal of a consulting company known as Integrative Biostrategies LLC. She is a past president of the Lone Star Regional Chapter and has been an SOT member since 1992.

 

From Specialty Sections: Judith T. Zelikoff, PhD,
and Amy L. Roe, PhD, DABT
Judith T. Zelikoff headshotDr. Zelikoff joined the Society in 1986 and is a tenured professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine at the New York University School of Medicine. She has held numerous leadership positions within SOT, including serving as SOT secretary from 2012 to 2014, and is the current president of the Ethical, Legal, Forensics, and Societal Issues Specialty Section.

 

Dr.Amy L. Roe headshotRoe became an SOT member in 1995 and works in product safety and regulatory affairs at Procter & Gamble. She has served in leadership positions for multiple SOT component groups and is currently secretary/treasurer for the Regulatory and Safety Evaluation Specialty Section.

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